Enough Crazy
NEW VIDEO! Hard to believe it has been almost a year that we have been exposing the crazy injustice in Waller County. The illegal conspiracy to hide details of a divorce case involving billionaire Jay Sears, and his politically connected real estate development company – NewQuest Properties. There are threats to arrest me for being me! After what happened in our last court appearance, I have had ENOUGH CRAZY.
Enough Crazy
“Hey Judge, is this retaliation for our criticism?” Wayne Dolcefino said.
Judge Robert Kern is just one face of the judicial injustice we see in Texas.
Repeated illegal court rulings.
The cognitive decline in this elderly, unelected visiting judge in Waller County is obvious for all to see.
“I saw it the first time I watched Judge Kern. He is hard of hearing, he forgetting his own rulings, he imagines things. I tried to warn folks a year ago. Listen,” Dolcefino told the camera.
“After being in court, watching him. I have growing concerns about this guy’s competency,” Dolcefino said.
Everyone in court sees it, including the women who seem to pay the price for Kern’s rulings.
“It gets crazier and crazier. I don’t think he remembers what he orders,” Debbie McLeoud said.
The elected County Court Judge, Carol Chaney, who picked Robert Kern in the first place, she doesn’t seem to care. She’s ignored us.
The administrative judge for this part of Texas is Robert Trapp.
“You’ve gotten complaints about his erratic behavior, haven’t you?” Dolcefino said.
“I haven’t got any complaints, no sir. I have no record of any attorney writing or calling saying they are concerned about him,” Robert Trapp said.
“Here’s a piece of advice, Judge. Get the heck out of your office in Conroe and come watch for yourself,” Dolcefino told the camera.
Like I have. A lot.
“It’s like judicial negligence, in my view,” Dolcefino told the camera.
“It’s a beautiful day for a trial,” Dolcefino said.
“I try not to be a conspiracy theorist, but maybe they know exactly what they have done. They want Kern doing exactly what he’s doing. Constitution be damned,” Dolcefino told the camera.
It’s increasingly clear Judge Robert Kern has set out to protect at least one of the folks fighting a divorce case in his court.
“Why is the case sealed? Why can’t the public find out what’s going on with the case? Are you hiding something?” Andrea Palacio said.
Jay Sears, the guy we now call the billionaire bully, moved to Waller County just long enough for Judge Chaney to decide he could fight his divorce battle there.
Instead of Harris County in Houston, where both Sears and his now ex-wife live.
“Tax break for billionaire. Where have I heard that before?” Dolcefino told the camera.
The drive to Hempstead for court hearings is certainly inconvenient.
Unless Mr. Sears and his team of lawyers know something the rest of us didn’t know about justice here.
It’s hard to ignore the bias.
Kern denied Sears’ wife a jury trial until we showed up to watch.
Kern declared her divorced without a full hearing and then made her fight for what she’s owed financially after the marriage was declared over.
We first showed up in Hempstead to watch Kern after other women had complained about this elderly judge.
“Altogether he is too old to be there. Making decisions for something like this,” Sonia Castillo said.
“Some people ask me why we are doing this crazy judge investigation, after all Sears and his wife agreed to seal their divorce when it began six years ago,” Dolcefino told the camera.
It’s not the personal dirt. A divorce after 43 years of marriage. A much younger girlfriend.
Sears’ own daughter is suing him, claiming he cheated her on a real estate deal. His own daughter.
That’s not why we’ve been locked in a legal battle for almost a year at this courthouse.
It’s the fundamental right of the public to see court records, watch a judge in action. Kern has forgotten who pays him.
“We’ve called the judge crazy, and he’s paid us back, but we got some tips about secret court hearings that have prompted us to file a judicial conduct commission complaint against the Judicial Conduct Commission,” Dolcefino told the camera.
The transcripts of those hearings are being withheld from us, but we heard from a court observer what the judge said about me.
“He makes a point of following me with a cameraman. I don’t want to even leave the impression that I’ve turned my tail and run.”
“I don’t know if his ruling are personal. I think his rulings are what’s best for Judge Kern. I think he wants Dolcefino Media out of the case because he doesn’t like a public eye on these rulings and this case,” Cordt Akers said.
Kern should read the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct. We say he’s violated three of the canons. That’s almost half.
“Canon 3B(5): A judge shall perform judicial duties without bias and prejudice.”
Kern has even issued orders affecting how the media even covers his court.
First he ordered the court windows to be blacked out.
He has threatened to arrest me multiple times if I ask him questions, even outside the courthouse.
As many as four deputies were assigned to protect the judge from me.
One protected Sears and his lawyer, just his side.
“You can see that hasn’t stopped us. If Judge Kern arrests me, then I can fight the legal battle to prove his media orders are unconstitutional. He knows that,” Dolcefino told the camera.
Kern has repeatedly accused us of even coming to his house to spy on him.. We haven’t, but he keeps saying it. It’s crazy talk.
“Why is he fighting us so hard? Well, maybe he just doesn’t like me. Ok, but maybe just maybe it’s to protect Sears and more importantly to protect his real estate development company,” Dolcefino told the camera.
NewQuest Properties is the biggest real estate developer in Waller County.
They have deep political ties.
Sears’ partner is Steve Alvis.
He was the campaign treasurer for the Waller County Committee for Economic Growth.
A big money guy for Waller County Judge Trey Duhon.
A huge financer for Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s campaign.
The governor returned the favor, appointing Alvis to the Texas Transportation Commission.
Alvis and Sears, well it’s no secret they are cashing in on Waller County.
The Texas Heritage Marketplace is already leasing.
A new 400-million-dollar, 165-acre NewQuest development along I-10 and Texas Heritage Parkway.
Did you know that Sears and Alvis, two really rich guys, got big tax incentives to do it?
“Tax break for billionaires. Where have I heard that before?” Dolcefino told the camera.
The City of Katy gave them 20 million dollars in Metro funds for a project outside their city limits, outside Harris County.
The local MUD district gave another 20 million dollars in sales tax revenue.
We have been researching more than 100 NewQuest-related companies, tracking 425 entities the Texas Secretary of State links to Mr. Alvis.
At least real estate deals just in Waller County. The Texas Heritage project is by far the biggest.
Alvis and Sears have something else in common. They both filed for divorce against their wives in Waller County.
And they both got the same visiting judge, Robert Kern.
The Alvis divorce case is likely on hold so they can watch what happens with Sears.
But it’s NewQuest that has fought the hardest to keep these divorce records a secret, claiming release of details of their real estate deals would be catastrophic.
Twice the Texas Court of Appeals has rebuked Kern for abusing his authority, that the media and the public have a constitutional right to access.
There’s a reason we elect a district clerk, who is supposed to be independent of the judges and protect the right to public records.
“Can you talk to me about why Jay Sears is so special?” Palacio said.
Waller County’s clerk, Liz Pirkle, instead just runs away from us and refuses to do her job.
“But the appeals court says something that’s right. The judge does have to balance the public’s right to know and protection of the most sensitive stuff in this case,” Dolcefino told the camera.
Looks like we have to go to the Texas Court of Appeals again. What a waste of money.
Our latest court hearing was an emergency request by our lawyers to get Kern to release the filings and transcripts he’s still hiding.
Our legal battle was with Sears and his lawyers. NewQuest wasn’t even a party to the case. Someone needs to tell that to the judge.
“NewQuest Homes attorney came in, gave a proposed order to the judge. He read it for the first time and granted it as it was. It puts us in the same position as we were six months ago,” Nick Kajal said.
The order not only keeps virtually all the Sears divorce records a secret, it even admits the judge is keeping transcripts of public hearings a secret. How can he do that?
“The public has a right to attend those proceedings and has a right to view what the courts are doing. That’s how we maintain our checks and balances on the judicial system,” Nick Kajal said.
Sears is also waging a legal battle against a women’s advocacy group that has waged a social media campaign against him. He believes we are working with them.
“Not true. I have no idea who runs the Women’s Justice Network. We did interview a volunteer who only agreed to talk to us if we treated her like a confidential informant,” Dolcefino told the camera.
“We do received a lot of inquiries from women all across the US looking to get help.”
We have filed motions to disqualify Judge Kern.
“Hey Judge, is this retaliation for our criticism? How do you deny transcripts of public hearings, Your Honor?” Dolcefino said.
We know he doesn’t like us, but too bad. He’s ignoring the Constitution.
And the divorce case, it’s kind of in limbo again.
Sears and his wife agreed to avoid a jury trial and settle the case with another special judge, Jack Marr.
But weeks after doing that, Sears filed a motion to recuse the judge. It was denied.
And Kern simply refuses to accept that the divorce case is out of his court.
He just set the divorce trial for June, but again denying Debbie McLeoud a jury trial.
“Setting off more court battles in a never ending divorce that was once secret. Not anymore, but it’s clear Mr. Sears is playing on home court,” Dolcefino told the camera.
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